English voice actor

Japanese voice actor

The Edge Master (エッジマスター Ejjimasutā) is a character in the Soul series of fighting games. Edge Master made his first playable appearance in Soulcalibur, but still makes actions in the backstory throughout most of the series. He returns as a playable boss character in Soulcalibur V.

His nickname in Soulcalibur is The Master of Blades.

What lies in his soul is: Experience

In Soulcalibur V's promotional material he is referred to as True Master of the Edge.

Contents

Abilities

The Edge Master is potentially the most skilled fighter in the series, he has mastered every fighting style in the Soul series perfectly. Edge Master also possess a seemingly eternal lifetime, and as such has been in countless battles.

Biography

Soulcalibur

Edge Master has a mysterious past; he is renowned for his skill with various weapons, and his past and real name are known only to himself. He served as adviser and teacher of Ling-Sheng Su martial arts at Ling-Sheng Su Temple (臨勝寺) -- who would descend from the mountain only to participate in the temple's holy artifacts succession ceremony and train their inheritors-- before he burned it down following the fateful night of the Evil Seed. Edge Master found Kilik, the cursed successor of the Kali-Yuga, in the temple and taught him to suppress the evil within himself over a three-year training session. Once Kilik had completed the training, Edge Master gave him the final test of destroying Soul Edge; but after Kilik left on his journey to purify himself and the Kali-Yuga, Edge Master began to feel uneasy. Although his motives are unknown, he broke his silence and departed on a quest of his own.

Soulcalibur II

Eventually he returned to his hermitage after his quest. He came across Xianghua and rewarded her the "No Name" jian after she defeated Nightmare and Soul Edge. He continued training Kilik until he left to his second quest to destroy Soul Edge.

Soulcalibur III

After Kilik was carried back by Xianghua from his quest, beaten by Zasalamel, he instructed him to train with him. He concentrated evil energy in his body and acted as if affected by the Evil Seed. Edge Master and Kilik trained for three months, until Kilik was able to connect a purifying blow in Edge Master, who purified him completely, but also wounded him. Although a real purifying blow would only hurt the evil energy and not the body, he acknowledged Kilik's advancement and, after giving him another fragment of Dvapara-Yuga and Xianghua's letter, he sees him leave while treating his wound.

Some time later, Seong Mi-na found him and challenged him. He accepted and easily overwhelmed her. He then agreed on training her for a while. Edge Master heard all of Seong Mi-na's adventures, but when he heard about her search for Soul Edge, he told her about the evil nature of the blade. Seong Mi-na left the hermit immediately to continue her search.

Soulcalibur IV

During the events of Soulcalibur IV, Edge Master and Olcadan felt Angol Fear's arrival on planet Earth and observed her actions. However, in the end, neither needed to oppose her[1].

He is mentioned in the Gauntlet mode, as he has the 1,000 year old beard that Hilde and Cassandra need for Professor Ivy's cure.

Soulcalibur V

In the events leading up to Soulcalibur V, Edge Master had encountered Maxi and taught him to control the power of the shard of Soul Edge that remained in his body. Sensing that the time had come, he told Maxi that Kilik's life was in danger, and the only way he could be saved was to bequeath the Kali-Yuga to Xiba.

Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul

(Non-Canon)

Edge Master found Cassandra wondering inside the Astral Chaos. After the two of them find the player, Edge Master fought him/her after sensing Soul Edge's power inside of him/her. After he is defeated, Edge Master had the player travel with Cassandra in searching for the fragments of the evil sword.

Soulcalibur Ending

Edge Master: It's been a long, hard trip, and it's good to be back at last. Seems like Kilik is ready to take the test. Kilik!

Kilik: Yes, Master.

Edge Master: Wait right here.

Edge Master suddenly attacks Kilik while he is in his youth appearance. . .

Kilik: Master. . . you've become. . .!!

Edge Master: I shall teach you the art of mastering the evil within you by using evil itself! Prepare yourself Kilik, defeat me if you can. Are you ready?! KAAAAAAH!!!

Weapons

All Weapons (No Name)

Edge Master is capable of wielding any weapon as if they were extensions of his own limbs. He creates his own set of weapons, but he never names them, since that would go against his philosophy. He believes that only a strong soul makes a strong warrior, not a weapon, so he regards them as only tools despite their power.

Critical Edge

Stages

The harsh daylight gives way to the setting sun that colors the entire area in the soft, gentle rose-colored hues of twilight.

As if forgotten by time, the ruins nearby lie in shadows, weathered and worn away by the unforgiving rain and river. Now, the remaining light of the setting sun reflects off the river's surface. Although this is a place forgotten and abandoned by man, its natural beauty holds an undeniable charm for those who gaze upon it.

This place was a natural choice for the man who devoted his remaining days to achieving perfection in all forms of martial arts.

(Note: Edge Master shares this stage with Kilik, but in its twilight variation and known as The Pure Training Spot (Evening) in Dreamcast version.)

Trivia

General

Edge Master is the first ever mimic character of the franchise.

He is similar to Charade, Inferno, and Olcadan, as he copies the weapons and fighting styles of other characters.

Though Edge Master is fully capable of wielding all weapons, it can be assumed that he prefers, or has a special fondness for the longsword. He is seen wielding a longsword in most of his artworks and renders, however there is no longsword based style in the series thus he never uses his default weapon in the game.

Edge Master is the most popular mimic character in the Soul series. Due to his popularity, he has returned in Soulcalibur V, making him the only playable mimic character to return for a following installment in the franchise.

Excluding his height, his alternate costume from Soulcalibur and Soulcalibur V is reminiscent of a stereotypical representative of a fantasy dwarven race.

In the Nintendo DS version of Pirate's of the Caribbean: At World's End's Wireless mode, one of the playable swords are named "Edgemaster". Whether a character based on Edge Master was going to wield this or not is currently unknown.

Edge Master shares his name with that of an RPG-like mode from the game.

Soulcalibur

His 2P costume displays a sewn up vertical cut across his skull.

Soulcalibur II

In the Weapon Master opening, there are three warriors facing off with an early wielder of Soul Edge. One of these warriors looks like a young Edge Master, wielding the Kali-Yuga, and his comrades are a male warrior wielding the Dvapara-Yuga and a female warrior wielding the Soul Calibur/Krita-Yuga. However it was not officially confirmed.

Soulcalibur III

Many of Olcadan's 'The Ancient' weapons are similar to Edge Master's unnamed weapons.

Edge Master can be re-created, but he can't use Soul of Olcadan, due to it not being a playable custom character fighting style. But he can be made a swordmaster.

Soulcalibur IV

Each character that appeared in Soulcalibur (with the exception of Nightmare) has an extra weapon somewhat similar to Edge Master's variant from Soulcalibur.

Soulcalibur V

Edge Master doesn't use the sword he has in his artwork, unlike Elysium and Kilik who respectively wield a sword and shield and a rod.

His weapons share the same model as Kilik's weapons.

In the English version, his weapons, like Kilik's, are called 'The Master'. However, they are listed as unnamed in his Japanese profile, just like Soulcalibur. This along with the shared weapon models seems to indicate that Edge Master's personal weapons were possibly meant to be included, but were left out due to time constraints.

The only characters Edge Master cannot mimic are Ezio, Algol and Devil Jin.

In the Story Mode, Edge Master encounters Patroklos in the Astral Chaos. How he came to reside there is never explained, though it is likely he ventured there to try to stop Algol.

In Volume 1 (Act.2), Edge Master appears in Kilik's home village and walks through the corpses. Kilik was violently frustrated for killing all the villagers, including Xianglian, that were infected by the Evil Seed. Edge Master carried Kilik away and gave him a rest in Edge Master's cabin.

In Volume 4 (Act.25), Edge Master once said that at the time, when he was young, he was the first person to wield Soul Calibur to defeat the one who wields Soul Edge.